Header artwork by X user Sonica Ewe.
Greetings from Peru! My name is Sebastián Rodríguez, also known as Kommander, and I left VGC in 2015 to finish my studies. I’m back and I managed to get 554 Championship Points in the lapse of two months, securing my qualification in just over a month to the 2024 Pokémon World Championships.
Here are my achievements in VGC:
- 2014 Peru National Champion*
- 2024 Santiago Regional Top 32
- 2024 Lima Special Event Finalist
* Back in 2014, Peru did not have an official tournament structure or a National Championship. The Latin American community organised themselves in a grassroots circuit, the “Desafío Sudamericano”, with representatives from each country. I earned the Peruvian spot!
Table of Contents
Teambuilding process
As soon as Regulation Set G was announced on 31 March 2024, I took the chance to do the best possible and lock in a team I felt comfortable with. After some conversations together with my brothers in arms (Andre Carvalheiro and David Hutner), we agreed that Terapagos is incredibly strong and also has the advantage that not all the players know about its mechanics yet. I was able to choose my Restricted the same day Regulation Set G was announced.
In April 2024, I met Oliver R. (MareeohYT) in the Pokémon Showdown VGC chat, who was kind enough to give me some advice and put in my brain the idea of using Clefairy as a Follow Me user to boost Calm Mind Terapagos. I started using it a couple of days after Pokémon Showdown allowed players to ladder in Regulation Set G.
To further support setting up Calm Mind I filled the next two spots with double Fake Out from Incineroar and Rillaboom. I started laddering with 4 Pokémon in Pokémon Showdown, getting multiple accounts in the top 100 worldwide. My gameplan was linear and I only had one lead (Terapagos + Incineroar) and I would just win every game like that.
As time went on, players started to get stronger, and the team had troublesome match-ups into certain things: Snarl, Eerie Impulse, Koraidon and Zamazenta players. I noticed that I needed to fix my match-ups into them, so I made a few adjustments.
Despite trying a variety of items (Choice Specs, Life Orb, Clear Amulet and Covert Cloak), I concluded after a lot of analysis and practice that Covert Cloak was the best item for Terapagos, allowing me to ignore Snarl drops and further supporting the ability to set up Calm Mind due to the added Fake Out flinch immunity. To beat Eerie Impulse, I just needed to ensure that I either had Follow Me positioned or be able to Protect Terapagos while I Taunt the problem Pokémon.
To patch my match-up into Koraidon I added Incarnate Forme Tornadus to the team, which added speed control with Tailwind and weather control with Rain Dance. I also found a gameplan that would always defeat Koraidon: redirection + a Calm Mind plus Tailwind back then (April) was enough to beat any of them.
Against Grass-Tera Type Zamazenta, I now had Covert Cloak on Terapagos and a slot for a move after dropping the initial Substitute. When looking at damage calcs I noticed that Helping Hand-boosted +1 SpA Flamethrower on Terapagos knocks out Zamazenta, catching all of them off guard, getting a game up in every Bo3 I had by using this tech. Not having Substitute made me weak to Amoonguss, but the Flamethrower was not only useful against Zamazenta, also secured knockouts against Amoonguss, Rillaboom and Grass-Tera Type Ice Rider Calyrex.
+1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Helping Hand Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 100 SpD Zamazenta-Crowned: 200-236 (100.5 – 118.5%) — guaranteed OHKO
+1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Helping Hand Flamethrower vs. 236 HP / 116 SpD Amoonguss: 298-352 (136 – 160.7%) — guaranteed OHKO
+1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Helping Hand Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 216-256 (104.3 – 123.6%) — guaranteed OHKO
+1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Helping Hand Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider: 228-268 (110.1 – 129.4%) — guaranteed OHKO
Finally, I tested some more niche Pokémon in the last slot, like special attacker Dragapult with Will-O-Wisp and Trick Room + Disable Dusclops, finally deciding myself to add Rapid Strike Style Urshifu to the team. I felt I needed a better matchup against Kyogre and this gave me more offensive pressure and flexibility to my very linear but successful team, having synergy with Tornadus, also abusing double Fake Out and being a Water type to close the FWG (Fire+Water+Grass) core.
It’s finally May and people start building their teams for tournaments while I had almost a full month of practice advantage with mine, which resulted in myself dominating the local scene and online Ranked Battles with my team.
I was undefeated in official and online tournaments with it and that caught the attention of two very accomplished players prior to Santiago Regional: Dorian Quiñonez (eventual Lima Special Champion) and Diego Ortiz (eventual Top 16 at Santiago Regional), who contacted me to team up and improve the quality of this team. They will be featured in this report because I didn’t build the team all by myself.
While I got some extra team advice from 2-time International Champion Marco Silva, Diego made a version of my team and got advice from 2022 World Champion Eduardo Cunha.
Preparations for Santiago Regional started, and I decided to bring the team just how it is, but Dorian and Diego made some adjustments to it. So, I present Dorian and Diego who will tell us the story of the addition of Volcarona and Wellspring Mask Ogerpon, respectively!
Dorian Quiñonez's insight
After Diego Ortiz got advice from Edu Cunha, he had Gholdengo, which is good against Zamazenta, but at that time, Michael Kelsch‘s team had recently won Stockholm Regional with Galarian Moltres and Chien-Pao, which made it difficult for me to use Gholdengo.
So, in order to beat them, I thought that the Pokémon that could resist both Chien-Pao and Zamazenta in addition to resisting Galarian Moltres was Volcarona. Volcarona’s combination of types resisted Chien-Pao and Zamazenta; also, Flame Body could burn them as soon as they make contact with it; and Quiver Dance was really good against Galarian Moltres and it helped with the mirror Terapagos match-up.
Diego Ortiz's insight
Wellspring Mask Ogerpon joined the team as a Pokémon that covers the Grass and Water types. Additionally, it provides increased speed and offensive power, acts as a second source of redirection, and offers an effective solution against Incineroar and better resistance against Urshifu.
Therefore, my result at Santiago Regional was 20th place with a 6-2 record and this version of the team.
On the bright side, Dorian made this team go undefeated in the Swiss rounds for a Top 4 finish…
…and Diego got prize money for the first time in his career, finishing 14th with this team!
But I personally felt very disappointed with my performance, because it depended on how many Zamazenta I would get matched with. I only lost against two strong Zamazenta players who had a very risky style, lost every forced 50/50 against them and I won my other 6 matches without much effort, but a 6-2 wasn’t enough to make it to the top 16 because I had one of the lowest resistances.
Therefore, I decided to learn from my mistake and I removed Urshifu to add Volcarona to my team for more Zamazenta hate.
This was the final team that I decided to bring to the Lima Special Event!
The Team
Get the team’s paste here!
Motelo (Terapagos) (M) @ Covert Cloak
Ability: Tera Shift
Level: 85
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 44 HP / 100 Def / 164 SpA / 12 SpD / 188 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 15 Atk
– Tera Starstorm
– Protect
– Earth Power
– Calm Mind
My favourite Restricted, with 44 HP EVs to optimize recovery from Grassy Terrain. At the same time, having more HP doesn’t make a big difference when it Terastallizes, because its base HP stat is already very high, making the EVs on HP less valuable.
The max Speed a Terapagos can use is Modest with 252 EVs, because after testing max Speed Timid, I concluded that it wasn’t viable. I suggested bringing Modest with 252 Speed EVs to Lima Special, but Diego and Dorian insisted in bringing it with 188 Speed EVs, and we agreed to bring the same speed stat, so I had to stick to it.
The only reason I switched Flamethrower for Earth Power is because I had Volcarona, but it ended up being really useful against Iron Hands and Raging Bolt.
+1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Helping Hand Earth Power vs. 196 HP / 68 SpD Zamazenta-Crowned: 204-242 (106.2 – 126%) — guaranteed OHKO
+1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Helping Hand Tera Starstorm vs. 172 HP / 12 SpD Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar: 260-308 (101.1 – 119.8%) — guaranteed OHKO
+1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Earth Power vs. 76 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Iron Hands: 130-154 (54.3 – 64.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO +1 164+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Earth Power vs. 188 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Raging Bolt: 140-166 (62.5 – 74.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned Body Press vs. 44 HP / 100 Def Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar: 200-236 (82.9 – 97.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Koraidon Collision Course (Super Effective) vs. 44 HP / 100 Def Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar: 200-235 (82.9 – 97.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO -1 252 Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Close Combat vs. 44 HP / 100 Def Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar with Friend Guard: 87-103 (36 – 42.7%) — guaranteed 3HKO
MorningElegy (Incineroar) (M) @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 67
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 172 HP / 4 Atk / 28 Def / 52 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
– Knock Off
– Fake Out
– Parting Shot
– Taunt
I decided to switch my original Incineroar to a turbo Incineroar after watching Leonard Craft III succeeding with it even in an Ice Rider Calyrex Trick Room team. I made this spread with Andre Carvalheiro, who is not a big fan of Jolly Incineroar, but he still decided to help me; having friends is overpowered!
I picked Taunt over Will-O-Wisp to have a better match-up against Amoonguss (Mental Herb wasn’t that popular back then), and also to Taunt slower foe Terapagos, to help with Eerie Impulse and to Taunt opposing Incineroar trying to Parting Shot my Terapagos. In the end, I never missed Flare Blitz honestly.
Why not an EV spread of 244 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpD?
Because 172 HP EVs optimizes Grassy Terrain recovery. Also, I wanted us to survive Fake Out from an Intimidated opposing Incineroar + a Choice Specs-boosted Terastal Form Terapagos’s Tera Starstorm or any +1 Calm Mind Terapagos, to allow myself to Parting Shot the opposing Terapagos 100% of the times.
-1 4 Atk Incineroar Fake Out vs. 172 HP / 28 Def Incineroar: 12-15 (6.2 – 7.8%) — possibly the worst move ever 252+ SpA Choice Specs Terapagos-Terastal Tera Starstorm vs. 172 HP / 52 SpD Incineroar: 150-177 (78.1 – 92.1%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Total: (84.1 – 99.9%) – guaranteed 2HKO
This wouldn’t have been achieved with an EV spread of 244 HP / 4 Def / 4 SpD! Check out these other calcs:
-1 252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Close Combat vs. 172 HP / 28 Def Incineroar: 158-188 (82.2 – 97.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO 252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider High Horsepower vs. 172 HP / 28 Def Incineroar: 150-178 (78.1 – 92.7%) — guaranteed 2HKO 252+ Atk Iron Hands Drain Punch vs. 172 HP / 28 Def Incineroar: 158-188 (82.2 – 97.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
76+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 172 HP / 28 Def Incineroar: 176-210 (91.6 – 109.3%) — 56.3% chance to OHKO 180+ SpA Protosynthesis Raging Bolt Draco Meteor vs. 172 HP / 52 SpD Incineroar: 160-190 (83.3 – 98.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Miraidon Volt Switch vs. 172 HP / 52 SpD Incineroar in Electric Terrain: 163-193 (84.8 – 100.5%) — 6.3% chance to OHKO
132 SpA Choice Specs Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 172 HP / 52 SpD Incineroar: 158-188 (82.2 – 97.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
MareeohYT (Clefairy) (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
Level: 66
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 6 Spe
– Follow Me
– Moonblast
– Helping Hand
– Protect
I originally had After You as a move, which was a very cool tech. The 6 IVs in Speed is because I couldn’t get a 0 IV Shiny Clefairy on time for the tournament hahaha.
I also tried Healing Pulse and Life Dew, but after a discussion with Caleb Ryor we agreed that this was the best moveset for my team… although I’d like to explore Icy Wind in the future.
The Tera Type is Grass for Amoonguss’s Spore.
0 Atk Zamazenta-Crowned Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 220 Def Eviolite Clefairy: 134-158 (75.7 – 89.2%) — guaranteed 2HKO 156+ Atk Iron Hands Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 220 Def Eviolite Clefairy: 124-148 (70 – 83.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO 252 Atk Mystic Water Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 220 Def Eviolite Clefairy on a critical hit: 132-162 (74.5 – 91.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 252 HP / 36+ SpD Eviolite Clefairy: 148-175 (83.6 – 98.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Miraidon Volt Switch vs. 252 HP / 36+ SpD Eviolite Clefairy in Electric Terrain: 142-168 (80.2 – 94.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO
Obey (Rillaboom) (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 52
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Atk / 4 Def / 92 SpD / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
– Wood Hammer
– Grassy Glide
– U-turn
– Fake Out
I used this Pokémon because I wanted to hard-counter Miraidon: this Pokémon would secure a win against any Miraidon team for me, even the ones having Focus Sash Urshifu plus Iron Hands. Controlling the terrain was crucial, and also the recovery from Grassy Terrain was very good for Terapagos.
The Speed stat was made to scout the Speed of other Pokémon around that speed tier; and the defensive stats were added according to what Marco Silva told me, I decided to trust him blindly. Finally, the Attack stat is just standard, no big science about this Pokémon.
P.S.: Dorian lent me his Shiny Rillaboom (I still have it)!
4 Atk Incineroar Flare Blitz vs. 236 HP / 4 Def Rillaboom: 168-198 (81.9 – 96.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
252+ SpA Pelipper Hurricane vs. 236 HP / 92 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 132-156 (64.3 – 76%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery +2 252 SpA Spell Tag Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 236 HP / 92 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 172-204 (83.9 – 99.5%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery
elegyy (Volcarona) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 57
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 124 HP / 188 Def / 36 SpA / 4 SpD / 156 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
– Flamethrower
– Tera Blast
– Quiver Dance
– Protect
This is the Zamazenta hate.
The idea to bring Volcarona came from Dorian. Diego did the EV spread and the idea of using Water-Tera Type Tera Blast as the second move came to my mind in a discussion with Andre and David Hutner, who encouraged me to try and innovate with original techs. Dorian and Diego decided to follow my call and both brought Water-Tera Type Tera Blast as well, since Hearthflame Mask Ogerpon was popular, it was good against Moltres and it would help in rain.
+1 36+ SpA Tera-Water Volcarona Tera Blast vs. 244 HP / 4 SpD Incineroar: 216-254 (107.4 – 126.3%) — guaranteed OHKO
+1 36+ SpA Tera-Water Volcarona Tera Blast vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Tera-Fire Ogerpon-Hearthflame: 204-242 (131.6 – 156.1%) — guaranteed OHKO
+1 36+ SpA Tera-Water Volcarona Tera Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Moltres: 224-266 (113.7 – 135%) — guaranteed OHKO
36+ SpA Volcarona Flamethrower vs. 196 HP / 68 SpD Zamazenta-Crowned: 108-128 (56.2 – 66.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO +1 36+ SpA Volcarona Flamethrower vs. 236 HP / 116 SpD Amoonguss: 234-276 (106.8 – 126%) — guaranteed OHKO +1 36+ SpA Volcarona Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider: 180-212 (86.9 – 102.4%) — 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider High Horsepower vs. 124 HP / 188 Def Volcarona: 79-93 (44.8 – 52.8%) — guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery +1 172+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned Body Press vs. 124 HP / 188 Def Volcarona: 62-73 (35.2 – 41.4%) — 79.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252 Atk Sword of Ruin Tera-Stellar Chien-Pao Throat Chop (1st Use) vs. 124 HP / 188 Def Volcarona: 84-100 (47.7 – 56.8%) — 33.2% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Strato (Tornadus) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prankster
Level: 78
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 164 HP / 84 Def / 116 SpA / 124 SpD / 20 Spe
Modest Nature
– Bleakwind Storm
– Tailwind
– Rain Dance
– Protect
This is the Koraidon hate.
I picked Ghost as its Tera Type because Covert Cloak wasn’t available, and decided to have it Modest so it would deal damage with Bleakwind Storm, hoping that it doesn’t miss.
Sometimes I would just use it to set up Tailwind, but since I didn’t encounter any Koraidon in the tournament, I only used it against the Terapagos mirrors.
116+ SpA Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 44 HP / 4 SpD Urshifu-Rapid Strike: 186-218 (102.7 – 120.4%) — guaranteed OHKO 116+ SpA Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Koraidon: 122-146 (69.3 – 82.9%) — guaranteed 2HKO 116+ SpA Tornadus Bleakwind Storm vs. 236 HP / 28 SpD Amoonguss: 144-170 (65.7 – 77.6%) — guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
252 SpA Choice Specs Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 164 HP / 124 SpD Tornadus: 129-153 (73.7 – 87.4%) — guaranteed 2HKO 108+ SpA Raging Bolt Thunderclap vs. 164 HP / 124 SpD Tornadus: 128-152 (73.1 – 86.8%) — guaranteed 2HKO 252 Atk Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 164 HP / 84 Def Tornadus on a critical hit: 156-186 (89.1 – 106.2%) — approx. 12.5% chance to OHKO
Tournament run
This was my run at the Lima Special Event!
Day 1 (Swiss rounds)
Click on the tabs to see some notes about my matches!
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | WW |  Diego Figueroa (Diego) | |  |
I was better prepared against Zamazenta and managed to get a 2-0 win by leading with Incineroar + Volcarona in both games. My Volcarona at +1 SpA got a roll and knocked out opposing Zamazenta in Game 1. In both games I brought Tornadus and Terapagos at the back.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R2 | WLW | Juan Mejía (Yuanyo) |  | |
This was by far the closest match I had. I lost Game 2 by not Taunting his Tornadus with my own, overpredicting that he would Terastallize it to Dark. His Choice Specs Terapagos was Modest with 252 Speed EVs, so it would outspeed mine. In Game 3, my Rillaboom finished his Tornadus during Tailwind with a Grassy Glide; if Rillaboom didn’t secure the knockout, the opposing Tornadus would have used Tailwind and I would have lost.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R3 | WW | Rodrigo Rodríguez (Rodrigo) |      | |
This player was very strong and his Smeargle was extremely bulky, luckily my Clefairy would check his Single Strike Style Urshifu in Trick Room and I managed to get a hard-earned victory by leading Terapagos + Incineroar. Taunt was crucial against the slow Smeargle. I won 2-0.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R4 | WW | Diego Ortiz (Mesquo) | | |
I decided to not take notes because facing a teammate was a bit sad, but I remember leading Tornadus + Terapagos and I won the speed ties, 2-0.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R5 | WLW | Dorian Quiñonez (GarnetSP) | | |
All 5 games against my teammates, we all used the same leads: I used Terapagos + Tornadus and they chose Terapagos + Incineroar. The game against Dorian wasn’t easy because he never gives up, which is really good, but I managed to win 2-1.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R6 | LL |  Sebastián Escalante (Sebastian) | | |
We were both already qualified to Top 8 so I didn’t take notes, but I still tried to win. Sadly I got outplayed by my very good friend Seba. Nevertheless, I identified his playing style which was leading Urshifu + Chi-Yu to chip and then bring Choice Specs Terapagos to sweep. I was totally ready to face him in the top cut, although ultimately it didn’t happen. 0-2.
With a 5-1 record, I went home happy and prepared myself for the following matchup. I had a day to prepare the best lines possible against the Uruguayan revelation player, and with the help of a couple of friends from the Peruvian VGC teambuilding chat (Diego Ortiz, Roberto Giampietri and Daniel Sáenz), we built a team that was similar to his and started creating gameplans.
Day 2 (Top Cut)
Click on the tabs to see some notes about my matches!
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 8 | WW |  Walter Ezequiel Pandiani (Linoyasu) |  | |
My preparation was successful and I managed to win the set 2-0 according to the gameplan I made the day before. While I asked my opponent how his preparation was, he said he was happy enough with a Top 8 finish and that he went to a party last night, which made me feel like a tryhard. Shoutouts to Walter, who had an amazing run and lost in Top 8 basically against four people at the same time, what a guy!
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top 4 | WW | Gonzalo Barrera (GonzAL-TH) |   | |
This player has been my nemesis in the locals because of how many times he defeated me before, but this time I managed to make him believe I had a better match-up. He could have outplayed me with Mienshao and Urshifu, but luckily he made a couple of misplays and I managed to get the win 2-0.
| Round | Result | Opponent | Opponent’s team | List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finals | LWL | Dorian Quiñonez (GarnetSP) | | |
Unlike in the Swiss rounds, this time we were absolutely delighted because it didn’t matter who would win: we made Volcarona and Terapagos get the tournament either way. I was pretty confident because I defeated Dorian in the Swiss rounds. Sadly, in the last turn of Game 3, I threw the match thinking I had already won: I protected my Terapagos instead of attacking, attacking was a 100% win chance for me in Game 3 regardless of what moves Dorian would choose. I ended up losing 1-2 and now I understand the misplays of top players in big tournament top cuts; mental stamina is real, guys. We both were really happy to get a 1-2 finish, though.
This was my result at the Lima Special Event! I finished 2nd, with a 5-1 Swiss record and earning 160 CP.
I was very happy and I celebrated my second place, because Finals could’ve gone either way. 160 CP are always good and they might be crucial for an eventual LAIC stipend.
This team can now be used by you, here’s how!
How to use the team
You want to lead Terapagos + Incineroar the most times you can (against Shadow Rider Calyrex, Ice Rider Calyrex, Lunala, Koraidon, Groudon…):
Your main line will be to try to Fake Out + use a Calm Mind on Terapagos. Then to Parting Shot or directly switch Incineroar to Clefairy for redirection and start spamming Tera Starstorm on Terapagos.
Click on the tabs to see some notes!
Lead +
You want to lead Terapagos + Rillaboom in order to secure the terrain, and you can either Fake Out or U-turn to get three chances to remove the Electric Terrain. I like being Encored by Whimsicott, then redirecting it with Clefairy.
Lead +
You want to lead Terapagos + Clefairy and have redirection from the beginning to not get your stats dropped. Then you can focus on the Thundurus without Terastallizing.
Lead +
Back,
A lead of Volcarona + Incineroar helped me win against Zamazenta players. You can double switch if they choose a different lead than Zamazenta + something, or get boosted If you have the chance. You always want to bring Tornadus and Terapagos at the back, you need attacking power, so Clefairy isn’t the best idea here.
Lead +
You want to lead Terapagos + Tornadus in order to secure Tailwind, then you could Taunt the opposing Tornadus. Also, Bleakwind Storm + Tera Starstorm in turn 1 knocks out any Mental Herb Amoonguss and chips opposing Terapagos.
Lead +
By leading Rillaboom + Tornadus, you could use Fake Out + Bleakwind Storm turn 1, forcing the Protect on Kyogre and dealing damage to opposing Tornadus who won’t necessarily want to Protect if it has Covert Cloak. If it doesn’t, you can predict the double Protect and use Tailwind.
Then you force Kyogre’s Grass-type Terastallization, also forcing opposing Tornadus to use Tailwind as well, but you can Taunt it, and then Terapagos enters to sweep after removing Rain.
If the opponent has Tsareena or Farigiraf, you can go for the Wood Hammer instead of Fake Out.
This is the synergy in the team according to the spider web theory of Andre Carvalheiro (MorningElegy).
I’ll explain the synergy lines:
- Incineroar’s Fake Out pressure for Terapagos’ Calm Mind. Intimidate and Parting Shot add bulkiness to Terapagos.
- Rillaboom’s Fake Out pressure for Terapagos’ Calm Mind, recovery from Grassy Terrain and acts as a check against Rapid Strike Style Urshifu.
- Clefairy buffs Terapagos offensively and defensively, with Helping Hand and Friend Guard or Follow Me respectively.
- Incineroar’s Intimidate and Parting Shot add bulkiness to Clefairy, can redirect more attacks.
- Incineroar’s Fake Out pressure for Volcarona’s Quiver Dance. Intimidate and Parting Shot add bulkiness to Volcarona. Also, the Water Tera Type on Volcarona gives an artificial FWG core both in the offensive and defensive sides.
- Rillaboom’s Fake Out pressure for Volcarona’s Quiver Dance. Recovery from Grassy Terrain + Leftovers gives a great HP gain each turn. Rillaboom also acts as a check against Rapid Strike Style Urshifu. Also, the Water Tera Type on Volcarona gives an artificial FWG core both in the offensive and defensive sides.
- Incineroar’s Fake Out pressure for Tornadus’s Tailwind. Intimidate and Parting Shot add bulkiness to Tornadus.
- Rillaboom’s Fake Out pressure for Tornadus’s Tailwind. They complement each other against rain teams.
- Tailwind makes Terapagos one of the fastest Pokémon in the meta. Tornadus can scout speed ties for Terapagos if you make them have a 1 point difference in Speed. Stellar Form Terapagos’s Tera Starstorm + Tornadus’ Bleakwind Storm can KO any Mental Herb Amoonguss.
- Clefairy buffs Volcarona offensively and defensively, with Helping Hand and Friend Guard or Follow Me respectively. Also, Volcarona’s typing helps to get rid of Steel types who are strong against Clefairy.
- Volcarona covers the Zamazenta match-up very well for Terapagos, acting as a substitute stat-boosting Pokémon for the turtle.
- Rillaboom and Incineroar, together with the Water Tera Type on Volcarona, gives an artificial FWG core both in the offensive and defensive sides.
Final thoughts
This team now can be used by you! Feel free to improve it, because I think this team will be even better in the future, when we go for past formats for fun, and it can also be the basis for a future double-Restricted format.
I want to thank the support of all the people who believed in me as it seemed like an impossible task to qualify to Worlds in two months, especially Andre Carvalheiro (MorningElegy) and David Hutner (elegy) who spent several hours coaching me and helping me improve my gameplay by sharing with me their knowledge. You guys are the best!
Also, a huge shoutout to the group “Teambuilding y más”, a community of over 100 Peruvian VGC players. Also to my friends from Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Argentina, Canada and the US. Having friends in VGC is incredibly busted, this is what this is all about.
Finally, thanks to everyone who took their time to read this long report and to Victory Road for the opportunity to send this report and for hosting my story!
